Rotating device for aircraft wheels



Feb.23, 1943. AGULQTrA 2,312,159

ROTATING DEVISE!l FOR AIRCRAFT WHEELS Filed April 12, 1940 I .wheel structure shown in Patented Feb. 23, 1943 2,312,159 nomme DEVICE Fon AmonAFT WHEELS y Anthony Gulotta, Dearborn,

Application April 12, 1940, serial. No. 329,293

3 claims. (ol. 244-103) This invention relates to aircraft and in particular to devices used in connection with the landing gear of aircraft.

i One object of the invention is to provide mean for rotating the landing wheels of aircraft prior to the landing operation, so as to reduce the friction and wear ordinarily arising when such wheels vare not rotating as the aircraft reaches the Another object is to provide an aircraft land--y ing gear including means vresponsive to the wind 'for impartinga preliminary rotation of the wheels before the wheels engage the ground in landing.

ing gear including means, such as vanes, operatlvely connected to the wheel for imparting a preliminary rotation to the wheel so that there will be little relative motion between the periph; ery oi the wheel and the ground when these come into engagement upon landing, thereby reducing the wear upon the tires and accordingly effecting a reduction in accidents due to blowouts of the tires arising from such causes.

Another object is to provide anaircraft wheel structure including vanes or blades adapted to Figure 3 is a central vertical section along the irregular line 3-3 in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross section through one of the vanes or blades, taken along the line 4-4 in Figure 1.

Figure 51s a fragmentary side elevation of'a modification wherein the blades or varies are ses cured or molded directly to the tire of the wheel.

'- Another object is to provide an aircraft landbe engaged by the wind so as to impart a preliminary rotation of the wheel structure before landing, these vanes or blades being -secured to the wheel in the vicinity of the'rim so that the vancsor blades not only rotate the wheel when acted upon by the wind but also deflect a portion vof the'air into the brake mechanism within the wheel, therebyproviding an additional cooling y action. upon the-brake mechanism and increasing the life and efficiency thereof. 4

Another Objectis mpi-Ovide an' aircraft landthe ground causes the periphery of the tire to be ing wheel structure, particularly for use with retractible landing gears, including means whereby the wheel is given a preliminary rotation in response to the action of the wind encountered as soon as the wheel emerges from 'its compartment in the aircraft, the rotative action' ai' the wind or air: being removed when the wheel is lagain retracted intoits compartment. Another object is to provide 'an aircraft land'- ing wheel structurewhereln means, auch as vanes t or blades, are secured to or molded into the tires themselves so that a direct rotative action is ap-l plied to tl'ie tires bythe' wind as the aircraft lands.

' Infine drawing:

Figure l'isa side elevation 'j of anaircraft'landlng wheel structureaccording to #preferred emboi'limentoi! the invention:

@Figure 2 is a front-elevation of the landing I General arrangement In general, the aircraftlanding wheel structure of this invention consists of means, such as blades or vanes. connected to the wheel or tire in such a manner as to be acted upon by the wind encountered as the aircraft fliesthrough the air. The rotative actionthus applied to the wheel or tire imparts a preliminary rotation thereto so that'the wheelis rotating as it encounters the groundinlanding. i, I-Iitherto the tires of aircraft landing wheels have been subject to severe'wear beyond the amount expected to be normally caused by the mere rolling of the wheel down the runway of the airport. This abnormal wear does notoocur during taking oif but only upon landing. It arises by reason of the fact that the wheel is substantially stationary when it encounters the ground or runway in landing, whereas it is moving relatively to the ground at a high rate of speed, such as up to or more miles per hour. The sudden impact of a stationary wheel with the ground at such a high relative speed between the wheel'and dragged over the ground until the inertia of the landing wheel structure can be overcome and the wheel rotated until 4its'peripneral speed is the same as the relative speed existing between the wheel and the ground'.

VUntil this quality of relative speed is reached, however, the tire, in enact, is skidding along the ground with somewhat the same resultas when the rotation of the wheels of an automobile is suddenly stopped by locking the brakes while the automobile is moving at a high rate of speed. In either case, the friction suddenly exerted between the tire and the ground wears off 'a considerable layer ofthe rubber and makes a long skid mark on` the ground. In a like manner.. the sudden impact of an'airplane wheel with the airport runway during landing creates similar friction.v

similar wear, and a similar skid mark upon the runway.

This'wear, moreover, is not only bad in itself,

but also 'is dangerous .because it makes the tire of uncertain value upon 4a subsequent landing. t

A tire thus weakened at one portion of its periphery may suddenly blow out upon landing and cause the wing tip of the aircraft to scrape the ground. As a consequence, the aircraft whirls around in a circle and damage usually occurs. Moreover, the uneven Wear thus brought about at the periphery of the tire throws the tires out of balance so that the wheel structure does not rotate evenly but on the contrary, gives uneven thrusts and sets up vibration in the landing gear.

An additional effect of landing the ordinary aircraft with stationary wheels is a tendency for the aircraft to nose over due to the sudden braking effect exerted at the front end of the aircraft by the friction between the wheel and the ground before the inertia of the wheel has been overcome and the wheel rotated up to a sufficient peripheral speed. This nosing over effect is an action which must be counteracted by careful Ipiloting of the aircraft during landing, and increases the skill necessary in the safe operating of aircraft.

The aircraft landing wheel structure of the present invention overcomes these defects of abnormal wear, friction, nosing over and danger of unexpected blowouts with fairly new tires by 4providing blades or vanes which are lengaged by the wind as the aircraft descends in landing. The wind exerts a thrust upon these vanes and imparts a preliminary rotation to the landing wheels so that they are already rotating at a fairly rapid peripheral speed when the tires encounter the ground. Thus the difference in relative speed between the periphery of the tire and the ground is greatly reduced or eliminated altogether, and the skid marks and friction are also reduced or eliminated. l

Furthermore, the preliminary rotation of the wheel in this manner eliminates the sudden braking effect upon impact with the ground and therefore also eliminates the tendency for theaircraft to nose over by reason of this action.` A further beneficial eect resides in the cooling of the lbrake mechanism within the wheel by the air deflected from the blades or vanes, so that the vanes not only rotate the wheel but also assist in cooling the brake mechanism. The saving whenthe present invention is employed, particularly in the use of heavy transport aircraft wherein the tires are very expensive. Moreover, the device of the present invention may be applied to the wheel either in place of the usual disk for holding the wheel on the axle or superimposed thereon. No special landing gear is may be atvanes or blades which are molded to or otherwise secured to the tire itself, so that the rotative effectis caused by the impact of the wind directly with the tire v-anes rather than with the vanes on the wheels. The size and proportions of the blades or vanes in eitherthe principal form in the expense 'of tires thus becomes considerable or the modiiication depend upon the lparticular size of the wheel.

Rotating mechanism on wheel vReferring to the drawing in detail, Figures 1 to 4 inclusive show a preferred embodiment of the invention wherein the rotating mechanism, such as the blades or vanes, is applied to the wheel itself rather than to the tire. The wheel, generally designated I0, is connected to a hub II by a disk-like web or spoke structure I2. The latter terminates at its periphery in a rim I3 having a removable edge ring I4 secured thereto as at I5. A disk I6 extends from the rim I3 toward the center of the wheel and is provided with apertures I'I for the passage of air therethrough. The web or disk structure I2 is likewise provided with apertures I8 for the passage of air into the space between it and the disk I6.

The wheel hub II is mounted upon the axle I9 as by the lbearing assemblies 20 and 2I and held in position by the bolt 22. The axle I9 is provided With an extension 23 supported in the bore 24 within the support 25, the latter having a post or strut 26 extending 'upward to the aircraft and pivoted thereto in the usual way, in the case of a retractible landing gear. The details of the landing gear form no part of the present invention and may be varied as desired without departing from the spiritof the invention. The support 25 is provided with an annular skirt 21 surrounding the hub II and protecting it as well as serving as a support for brake mechanism 28.

The latter is located in the space between the skirt 21 and the rim I3, and in Figure 3 is designated with the legend Brake space." The brake mechanism 28 may likewise be of any suitable type, either a band brake or a disk brake or employing the interaction of fluids with rotors as desired.

Secured to the wheel I0 as by the screws 23 threaded into the holes 3II-in the rim ring I4 is a .disk 3| extending from the rim ring I4 inwardly to the center of the wheel. This disk 3I is preferably provided with apertures 32` corresponding in location to the apertures I8.

superimposed upon the disk 3| is a second disk 33 having radial vanes or blades 34 disposed therearound. These vanes 34 are preferably in the form of louvres struck up from the surface 'of the 'disk 33 and leaving apertures 35 adjacent the apertures 32 in the disk 3I.

Mounted on the rim I3 is the usual tire assembly. This includes the usual casing and one or more inner tubes.

The particular details of this tire assembly 36 form no part of the principal embodiment of the invention.

Operation "During flight, 'the strut or post 26 is swung upwardly so that the wheel I0 and its tire assembly 36 are received in the usual compartment within the wings or fuselage of the aircraft. When the aircraft is about to land, the pilot lets down the landing gear, such as by the usual hydraulic motors, swinging the posts or struts 26 down into their approximately vertical positions.

As the wheels. III emerge into the air from their compartments, the impact of the wind arising by reason of the high relative speed between the air and the aircraft engages the vanes or blades 34 Iand imparts a considerable thrust thereto. Since the vanes or blades 34 face the wind on only one side thereof. due to their louvre-like. configura- ,ground so that when the tire 36 touches the ground, its peripheral speed approaches the relative speed existing between the aircraft and the ground. v

As a consequence, there is little friction genf erated between the tire 36 and the ground at the instant of landing because the wheels I and tires 36 already are rotating at a rapid rate. For this reason, therefore,'the skid marks and abnormal wear arising in ordinary use are greatly reduced and in many cases completely eliminated.

Due to the inclined angle of the blades or vanes 34, and to the presence of the approximately aligned apertures 32, I8 and I1, a portion of the air which engages the blades or vanes 34 is deected into the interior of the wheel I0 and rushes through the brake space -28 by Way of the apertures 32, I8 and I1. In this manner the brake space 28 is very eiciently cooled. The

friction generated in the application of the' brakes during landing is dissipated in the form 'of heat and this heat, by the present invention,

is carried away bythe air forced in as a result o f the action of the blades or vanes 34. Thus the mechanism of the present invention has the double eiiect not only of imparting a preliminary rotation of the wheels but also of' providing a cooling action for the brake mechanism.

Modifiedconstruction will be conducted into the interior of the whe'el to cool the brake mechanism as in the principal embodiment of the invention.

While a specic embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated. it will be understood that. various modications may be made within the scope .of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the i'nven` tion.

What I claim is:

1. In an aircraft landing wheel structure, a v

wheel including a hub, a rim for receiving a tire, vane supporting structure extending between said hub and said rim and rotatable with said wheel, radially elongated vanes attached to said vane supporting structure and positioned to rotate said wheel in response to the force of air impinging thereon during flight, an enclosed brake chamber within saidy wheel, and brake mechanism disposed within said brake chamber for braking Athe same, said vane supporting structure having air inlet apertures adjacent said vanes and opening into said brake chamber for admitting a portion of the air deflected by said vanes and said brake chamber having air outlet apertures communicating with said air inlet apertures whereby to cool said brake mechanism.

2. In an aircraft landing wheel structure, an aircraft wheel including'a rim for receiving a tire, Vane supporting structure connected to said wheel and rotatable therewith, and vanes attached to said vane supporting structure and positioned to rotate said wheel in response to the force of airimpinging thereon during ilight, an

enclosed brake chamber within said wheel, and

brake mechanism disposed within said brake chamber for braking the same, said vanes being radially elongated, said vane supporting structure having air inlet apertures adjacent said vanes and opening into said brake chamber for admitting a portion of the air deflected by said vanes and said brake chamber having air outlet apertures on the opposite side thereof from said air inlet apertures whereby to cool said braking mechanism.

3. In an aircraft landingwheel structure, a wheel including a hub, a rim, a connecting strucv ture extending between said hub and'said rim, a

cover member connected'to said wheel for rotation therewith and disposed outside said connecting structure, vanes on `said cover member and positioned to rotate said Wheel in response to the brake mechanism.

force cf air impinging thereon during flight, an

enclosed brake chamber within said wheel, and brake mechanism disposed within said brake chamber surrounding said hub, said vanes being radially elongated, said connecting structure and said'cover member having air inlet apertures opening into said brake chamber and positioned to conduct a portion of the air deflected from said vanes to said brake mechanism for cooling the same, said brake chamber having air outlet apertures ,remote from said air inlet apertures. -Vand communicating therewith for. discharging the heated air produced by the cooling oi'A said ANTHONY GUm'I'rA. 

